NINA'S MEMOIRS.

Thursday 11 April 2013

IS THE ICC SERVING ITS RIGHTFUL PURPOSE?


ICC headquarters, Hague, The Netherlands.
 The ICC has taken the form of H.E Mr. Uhuru and Mr. Ruto’s shadows. Everywhere their names are mentioned, the sore issue of the ICC also comes up. During the inauguration of H.E president Uhuru Kenyatta, a few speeches stood out and amongst them was Uganda’s president Yoweri Museveni’s speech. Using some very strong words, president Museveni criticized the ICC as a tool being used to drive the agenda of the west and to blackmail Africans. With regards to the ICC, Mr. Kenyatta indicated in his speech that he and his government shall not be bullied by other forces.
The sentiments of the two leaders are being echoed across the continent as people begin to wonder whether the court was designed for Africans only. So far only Africans have been indicted by the court among them being Kenya’s president and his deputy Mr. Uhuru and Mr. Ruto, former Liberian President Charles Taylor who was sentenced to a life imprisonment by the court and a warrant of arrest is out for Sudan’s president. We are not saying that the aforementioned are guilty or innocent, that is not ours to say. What we ask is this, are there no crimes against humanity being committed in non-African countries?
Kenyans and Africa is tired of being bullied, of being seen like we cannot handle and solve our own problems without ‘assistance’. There is talk of the African Union establishing its own court that will deal with cases of crimes against humanity involving Africans. It is a lot of people’s wish that this will come to be as the ICC has turned the search for justice into a platform for propagating the agenda’s of the western countries

Wednesday 10 April 2013

RAINS, BLESSING TURNED CURSE.

 Everyone anticipated the coming of the long rains, well, almost everyone. But now that they are here, majority of the people aren’t sure it is what they wished for. The death toll caused by floods is now at 20 people and counting. The raging floods have caused not only death but also left a trail of destruction in many parts of the country. Vehicles are being washed away, mudslides are burying houses with people in them, and flooding in the plateaus and plain areas leaving homes submerged. The most affected areas include Murang’a, Kiserean, Athi river, Dagoretti to mention but a few. The intense lightning and thunder has also not helped any as the power supply keeps getting interrupted in areas experiencing these rains.

The government with the help of the media keeps sending out precautionary messages to citizens in flood-prone areas to seek alternative places to stay but is that really a solution? Think of a homestead in Murang’a for example. It is probable that the homestead houses three or four families, all related. Say that this is a total of atleast 12 people. Assuming that this scenario replicates itself in about one out of every four homesteads, where are all this people supposed to seek temporary housing? Nowhere. That is the simple answer, and not because they do not value their lives but simply because the solution offered is not a practical one. So every time those families see dark clouds approaching, they stare helplessly and the most they can do is say a prayer that they will live to see each other and to see another day.
# Stay safe, don’t shelter under trees when it is raining… and remember that small matter of saying your prayer.